Nifty News

Faithful Followers

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Because our venture to the zoo went so well last week, I took my kids (minus Savannah who was hanging out at her friend's house) there again on Friday. We met my sister and my little nephew there. This time it didn't go quite so nicely. Let's see... to start, Jackson was mouthy and belligerant on the way there. He was acting rotten and out of control as I drove to the zoo and at one point, he actually started throwing little Nintendo DS cartridges around the car. When we got to the zoo and tried to open the sliding door, we realized that a cartridge had gotten wedged in the sliding mechanism and it took us like 4 hours to get the door to open and then close again. He continued with his attitude pretty much the whole day. He took the brace off his wrist and threw it down the path where we were walking. He picked a dirty, lost baby bib off the ground and put it around his neck before I made him put it back. And he asked me 5 thousand times if he could buy something from the gift shop with his money. Money burns such a hole in that kid's pocket. He just doesn't get the concept of saving his money for something he really wants. The minute he gets money, he just has to spend it.

And of course, Brooklyn had about 7 million temper tantrums. Poor Austin (who was shockingly awesome) carried her most of the day and even told her a well-timed lie as we were leaving. One ride on the merry-go-round wasn't enough for her royal highness and she threw herself down on the ground, begging for another ride. Austin told her that we were going to a different merry-go-round by our car. It worked. We were able to leave and she thankfully forgot about "the other" merry-go-round by the time we reached the parking lot.

After spending another 5 hours at the zoo, we still didn't get to all the exhibits, but here are a few new pics...

Clay made friends with the leopard. He kept standing real close and watching Clay. I don't know if he was thinking that Clay would make a tasty snack or if he was wondering how Clay had escaped from the monkey cages.

A pile of porcupines. They were all kinda on top of each other and I kept wondering if they were stabbing each other.

Does anyone else think it's kinda cruel that they named the chicken "Fricassee"?

OK, yes they're just cows, but we don't see cows around these here parts too often ever. But what's even more unusual than the cows is their toy. Do you see it? It's a big plastic pickle. Cows like to kick around giant condiments. Who knew?

This is the part where Clay picked up goat poop and threw it. At least he didn't try to eat it, right?

polar bear

Dominick in a little "nest" in the play zoo

This was in the turtle's enclosure. I guess they drink Diet caffeine free Coke.

And this was in the lemurs' cage. Paula Deen does their cooking.

Zoboomafoo

They have face paint in the play zoo. I guess Clay is Rudolph.

Brooklyn having a snit because she didn't want to leave. The whole day, she kept grabbing Austin's ears. She was like Remy in Ratatouille, trying to steer him around by grabbing his ears and hair.

pretty water fountain

The kids sitting on a life size leatherback turtle. Lexi's hanging on for dear life as she slips into the ocean floor.

Lexi trying to save Clay from being eaten by a rather large fish.

the latest in formal wear

Yeah, it's a ceiling. I'm kinda nuts about taking pictures.

not just another pretty face

...the corn is as high as an elephant's eye.... (song?)

elephant

extreme close-up

I never realized just how umm, interesting, tapirs look. They're much cuter on Diego.

And finally, the winner of the Wonder Pets beanie set and the $75 gift card from Angie at Good For The Kids is........

54 comments:

Dawn, sorry the second zoo trip wasn't quite as ... calm? as the first one. It always seems to happen that way, doesn't it? I must say that I admire your restraint, as I probably would have turned around and not gone to the zoo if little cartridges were flying around my car. Again, I'm a mean mommy!

And YES, Fricasse caught me even before you said something. I did a mental "awww" when I saw that. I looove the pics of the kids with the animal models, too. Way funny, especially the fish!

It's great that the keepers are so caring and responsible as to ensure that the turtles aren't getting too much caffeine and sugar in their diet. Gee, imagine a turtle on caffeine having a sugar rush. Who knows what havoc might ensue?

They are great photos thankyou again for sharing them with us. You crack me up with notes at the bottom of the photos especially the porcupines. I miss summer I cant wait for it to come back, I am so over this rain and the mud.

I love the pictures. Thanks for posting. My apologies if you've answered this a dozen times, but how do you attach the photos? Do you upload to photobucket or a similar site? (Maybe you just tape them to your monitor?)

As always, I continue you to enjoy your blog. Reading it is a nice way to start my morning.

Oooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains! I'm such a musical geek. :-)

You've really got a treasure in Austin. What a great big brother to put up with all the ear steering, hair pulling and tantrums and still have the wherewithall to come up with the perfect thing to get a cranky 2-year-old into the car. Can I borrow him sometime?

Oklahoma is the song, and it's ok to take pictures of ceilings, it's the pictures of floors that would have put you in the crazy corner for me.

I'm sorry for you and for Jackson, I guess he's either being a preteen or getting used to the new diet again, or just being Jackson. You choose. I have had no kids all week due to them being at thier fathers so I am making their favoite tonight when they come home, Tapioca pudding. I miss them so much when they are gone that long. Next week starts my 22 day long stretch with them gone. I hate summer! But I love your blog and wish you the best as these summer days drag on. Keep up the spirit. Your nephew is adorable. XOXO AKB

We went to our pathetic zoo in CT yesteray (the only exciting thing they have is a tiger)...your pictures make me want to plan a trip to Chicago!

And I'm 99% sure that the song with the elephant's eye is "June is busting out all over." My mom used to sing that line to us all the time when we passed the gazillion farms near where I grew up (farms and cows we have; zoos, not so much).

Wow, someone at that zoo has a sick sense of humor. Naming a chicken Fricasee and giving a cow a pickle...like you would find on a hamburger which is made from cow!! And what is with the Diet Coke and butter?? Odd!

"Corn is as high as an elephant's eye." The very first song from "Oklahoma." Curly sings it while riding his horse. (Movie version that is). I wonder where in Oklahoma they got an elephant to measure their corn with?

Can I just say you described my son Jackson to a T. That is exactly what I deal with every single day....must be something about the name :) Sorry your trip to the zoo wasn't that great...sounds like what would happen to me if I took my kids...

Thanks for sharing your zoo pics. We went there a couple of years ago when we did a Chicago vacation. I remember that one elephant was totally ticked off and was beating up on a big plastic drum and trumpeting which was something I'd never heard an elephant do quite like that before. I feel your pain with Jackson. I have a girl with similar issues. We tell her to stop, she stops for like 2 seconds and then we are telling her again. Any discipline always results in "What?? I wasn't doing ANYTHING!" AAAAHHHHH!!!!

I can't believe they have cows in a zoo! I have a whole herd living across the road from me. You are welcome to come and play with them any time free of charge. They are very friendly, and judging from their keen interest in us when we are outside, love to watch kids play.

My kids live the national zoo in DC. We haven't been in a few years. Maybe that would be a good place to go on vacation. We decided not to drive to NY to visit relatives this summer, as we would use 44 gallons of gas round trip in my 15 passenger van.

The cow thing cracked me up...we actually have a dairy farm near us, that is actually a tourist attraction of sorts...they do tours of the dairy farm, and cheese factory. There are exhibits and lots of kids activities. It's actually just a few hours away from Chicago, so if you are ever in the MOO-d...(sorry, couldn't help myself) here is the web address www.fairoaksdairy.com It's pretty neat-you can even see a cow being born.

I am so glad you told me that was a chicken! At first i hadn't scrolled down to see what you wroe and I was sitting here squinting to figure out what the heck it was! LOLUGH! Sorry your trip turned out "interesting". Just look for the positives in the day. Look for the positives....;)

ps I did my very first Sunday Sound Out today and paid you hommage. ;)

If a chicken named "Fricasse" bothers you, then my pet turkey that I named "Tetrazini" will too. I had a friend with a pot belly big he named "Pork Chop" and my Aunt that used to raise a steer every year or two always named them "T-Bone"...He he he. :)

Sorry to hear your second trip to the zoo wasn't quite as relaxing. I had to chuckle when I read about the cows. Just yesterday while at the lake there were some children that were so excited they had just seen an elephant! Well right behind them came along their grandpa who declared no they hadn't seen an elephant it was a COW! We found it very entertaining as we grew on farms and they were as common as a house cat. I'm glad they got to see the cows,you shoulld bring them to the beautiful midwest!!!

Just caught up on all your old posts. You're hilarious! Just thought I'd make you feel better about the size of your house. We have 7 kids and live in a house that's less than half the size of yours! It's cozy alright, I can tell you that. I think in a 1000 ft.house, I'd feel like we lived in a mansion!

Also, your Paula Dean joke made me laugh out loud at work. I'm a church secretary...not a lot of hilarity here when no one is visiting...I'm sure the pastor raised his eyebrows wondering what was going on!

I'm continually impressed with Austin, just wanted you to know that! Even the talking in narrative...he's so creative. Enjoy it because too many teenage boys become homogenized groups of peers who are all the same person.

Hey Dawn, As a soon to be zoo keeper, and a volunteer at the moment. I thought you might like to know and your kids would be interested to know what all those wierd things(diet coke and butter) are inside the exhibits. It is called enrichment, the keepers come up with safe things for each animal that keep them entertained or challenged to get into. The point of it is to make sure that they have challenges, like they would have challenges in the wild. Most likely in the diet coke box and the butter box, it was probably there daily food or something like a treat they might like. If you dare to take the kids to the zoo again,lol. Give them a challenge to find what would be the enrichment for the day in each of the exhibits, my child loves to do this.

You've given me the urge to now touch an elephant. I, too, enjoy taking photos, and that extreme close-up is right out of one of those kids puzzle books of 'what am I?'. Thanks for sharing your photos!

Just a note to let you know I have been thinking about you lately. Hope your summer is going good. As far as ADHD issues go I have my son on the Feingold and a product called Calms Forte. You can buy it in the aisle at WalMart, Kroger, Fred Meyer. Not sure what stores you have there. It has helped him so much and I am giving him Omega 3 capsules. They taste like @#$% but they are working for him. I thought maybe you might benefit from this. Have a good day!

Kind of warms your heart to realize that Austin is listening and learning when he can come up with a helpful comment to get Brooklyn to the car. But on the scary side, what kind of whoppers is coming up with to tell you? I'm always the skeptic. :)

Emperor's New Groove is one of my all-time favorite Disney movie. Such great lines that we seem to work into our everyday lives somehow...

"demon talking llama!!!""oohhhh llama-face!""cheesy me no likey""scarier beyond all reason"and I love Kronk doing his own theme song. We even photoshopped Kronk and my son together when he (uh, my son) studied the letter K in preschool.

I was reading someone else's blog just the other day who also went to the Brookfield Zoo but EVERY time they tried to get a picture of the animals they always turned around so all she got all day was shots of animal bottoms. I'm glad that the animals cooperated for you.